Guest Blog: Cape Theatre

Cassie: Passion? I would give you 6 out of 10. I think you are quite passionate about most things, but only when you are interested in it.

Reena: Oh, ok. Yup – that is fair. I would give you a six too. Presence?

Cassie: Maybe a 5?

Making theatre as a duo can be an interesting journey. Writing and devising together can be tough at times. Our new show, We Choose to go to the Moon, is about charisma: what it is, who has it and if it is possible to learn it. We believe that John F. Kennedy had it and we want to see if we capture this quality by re-enacting fragments of his life.

We start the show by judging each other. How naturally charismatic are we? The memory of Cassie scoring Reena a 6 for demeanor isn’t fading anytime soon. But we had to vocalise all the things we thought could be improved about each other’s personalities; we have had to allow ourselves to be vulnerable, to really strip back what is it about ourselves that we feel needs ‘work’.

We didn’t want the piece to be about picking on each other and embarrassment but about working towards a higher goal in the hope we will feel better for it and it has ended up being a great experience. Not only has it made us closer as friends, it has helped us as performers to understand each other’s strength and weakness and allowed as to be as open as possible for our audience. We know that in the end it is their judgment that will count.

We Choose to go to the Moon started as a piece created for Starting Blocks 2015 at Camden People’s Theatre. It has defiantly had its turns, its fun theatrical experiences and times when we have wanted to throw in the towel, but now we are really happy with the direction and the messages of the piece. It began with a journey to the moon and the restrictions of time and space, it then developed to our weird and slightly obsessive relationship with John. F. Kennedy. He managed to make a whole national fall in love with him and we want to make you feel the same way about us. Or we at least are going to try!